Pictures Worth A Thousand Memories
by MsSecretivegirl
Summary: Everyone says a single picture is worth a 1000 words; what about a bunch of pictures being worth a 1000 memories? Arnold and Helga are now best friends and must deal with the changes that come with growing up. Secrets & feelings will be revealed. AxH.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone, Gina here. Well I haven't written a fanfic in sooooooo long and never on Hey Arnold! but I think I can do a decent job. Sorry if this story isn't as well written as others but I'm a little rusty in the whole fanfic realm so try to be a bit patient with me. So thanks for reading and enjoy :)

Okay so this is where I put my my disclaimer huh? Alright so...

I don't own Hey Arnold! or any of the characters from the show. I own nothing except the idea of this story. I have plans to get rich and buy the rights for everything HA! later on in the future but sadly that day hasn't arrived yet so I'll wait until then.

_Pictures Worth A Thousand Memories_

Ch. 1 Growing Up

Arnold knew there was something about Helga that was worth knowing, something different that made her special.

Even when they were younger he always knew that special something was there. Even when she was mean and aggressive and pushed everyone away, he had seen it.

She was smart, she had humor, she was real and Arnold- being the good, helpful, dreamer that he was- couldn't help but be fascinated with her charm, wit, her now well- placed aggression, and sense of realism. It all intrigued him. She intrigued him.

After the FTi incident, Arnold- trying not to deal with the concept of love but focusing on the fact that if Helga was able to love somebody (he couldn't think of his own name at the time), then she couldn't be a bad person. She obviously had feelings- finally got the courage to talk to Helga about being real friends. After a long talk about Helga letting go of her defensive, bullying attitude- with Arnold's help of course and a full summer of trying to let her good side out- they finally did become close friends. Phoebe and Gerald were officially introduced to the nicer side of Helga and their small intimate group of friends was established within the greater P.S. 118 gang.

Helga entered the 5th grade with a better, nicer attitude and a group of real friends to depend on and Arnold now had a more realistic view on the world and a knack for understanding Helga's taste in humor. He had a new girl best friend and she had a new guy best friend. Yet one thing did not change; they never spoke about the FTi incident. It was like a taboo to them and both felt too awkward to really settle things outright so they pushed the incident to the side to remain unacknowledged. They would only ever think of it to themselves but never did they bring it up in conversation.

The young kids of P.S. 118 grew up over the years and became the teens of Hillwood High. They all went through the stages of growing up: puberty, finding themselves, moving ahead in school, making new friends, losing some old friends, going to parties, the plague of acne, raging hormones, falling in and out of love… the teens went through it all and they did it together, supporting each other and just being there for each other as their lives spiraled toward the future.

Falling in love, though, was something they all did together but was an issue nobody really wanted to talk about.

So Helga and Arnold became the closest of friends. They forgot the cruel moments of the past and built a bond that seemed to surpass any normal bonds of friendship. They lived like kindred spirits; natural and meant to be.

They had all grown into the bodies of young adults, sounded different, had new ideas and interests… dated new people, and just took new chances. No one would have expected the biggest change to happen in the realm of Hillwood but it did happen and shocked Arnold as he was the only one who knew it.

Arnold fell in love with Helga, his best friend.

Everything about her filled his mind and intoxicated his senses, the idea of her made his heart beat erratically.

Arnold loved Helga. He felt it- this unbelievably consuming love he had for her- must've always been there. He just hadn't admitted it to himself until eighth grade at a very specific moment during the… well, that was another memory meant to be spoken of at another time.

He felt it was absolutely wonderful to love her. Oh how much he wanted to just pick her up in his arms and tell her just how much he loved her- with everything he had!

There was just one problem…one that pretty much made him unable to tell Helga how he felt. No, the biggest downfall wasn't that he was scared to tell her- he got over that fear and now felt that she deserved someone as bold and passionate about everything as she was and telling her outright would be just like something she would do.

The problem was that she was dating "the most amazing guy in all of Hillwood"- as told by pretty much the entire female population in school- and he wasn't that guy.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey again :)

So I just decided to write my second chapter because I'm feeling THAT inspired. Great!

Okay so I just wanted to say that Arnold is the only one who knows he is in love with Helga. Nobody else has figured it out. I meant that no one would have thought he of all people would fall for her but he did and it shocked him the most since he was the only one who knew. I hope that clears up any confusion. If not, well just message me or post a comment. I'll respond :)

By the way, I may be fluctuating between POV's: my own point of view (narrator), Helga's, and Arnold's. So I'm sorry if it gets a little confusing. I'll try really hard not to let it happen.

Oh and I don't have a beta right now so I'm mostly giving you the work that I just finished so if there are some spelling mistakes, I'm sorry about that but it is 12am so I'm just a tad bit tired.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I already wrote it before in my last chapter but I'll say it once more but never again since it applies to everything I write here.

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH HEY ARNOLD! See you got the truth out of me! I hope you're happy.

Arnold's POV

Well this was turning out to be a boring afternoon.

I sighed to myself as I lay on my bed throwing a baseball in the air and then catching it in my right hand, careful not to throw it up too high or I'd end up breaking the glass skylight. I wasn't really paying attention to Grandma singing some crazy song about flying to the moon on a whale or the noise coming from Mr. Hyunh arguing with Ernie about who knows what. No, my mind was far away from the boarding house, to be honest.

My mind was somewhere a couple blocks away where a beautiful blonde lady would be probably brushing her shiny, sunshine like hair and just being perfect, as usual. Or she'd be putting on makeup she didn't need to make her deep, royal blue eyes stand out more even though they put the blue sky to shame.

Yeah…I was thinking about Helga. Again.

"Damn it," I growled to myself, squeezing my eyes shut in a useless attempt to drive her from my mind. "It's useless. It's never going to get easier, is it?" I looked around my room as if I actually expected the walls to talk back to me. _You need to stop thinking about her that way, Arnold,_ I told myself. _She doesn't think of you that way and I doubt she ever will with that guy as her boyfriend. He's perfect and you're…not._

Ugh. With Jason Matthews as her boyfriend, I'd have a bigger chance of becoming a werewolf or some other mythological creature before she'd ever break up with HIM.

Jason Matthews…He moved to Hillwood from California at the beginning of sophomore year and everyone immediately liked him. All the guys thought he was cool enough to be their friend and all the girls thought he was absolutely perfect so they all started swarming him. Every girl wanted Jason to be her boyfriend and did all they could to be close to him. Jason liked the attention as most guys would and after awhile kind of expected it though he didn't let the attention get to his head. I liked that about him. He was genuinely a good guy and I didn't blame the girls for liking him. He was pretty good looking and was smart and athletic. He was just perfect and all the girls wanted him.

All the girls… except Helga.

I have to admit that when Jason did move here and I saw that all the girls wanted him, I got really scared that Helga would want him too- I was finally getting over my fear of telling Helga how I really felt and I was starting to think of a plan on how to tell her; I didn't want anyone getting in the way of that. I even casually asked her at the time if she was going to chase after him too, but she just shrugged and said a boy like him was just too cliché. She didn't want perfection and she wasn't going to be one of those girls who went crazy for a guy like him. I knew she meant it and her words calmed me down. I befriended Jason and thought I had nothing to worry about.

Then Jason got paired up with Helga as her lab partner. Usually we were partners but the new science teacher was strict and had paired us up before she had met us all. I ended up being paired with Gerald so that was okay. I didn't think too much of the pairing because Helga mostly ignored Jason at first. She didn't seem interested in him and he didn't really say much to her either.

But after becoming friends with Jason, I knew he had gotten used to the attention the girls gave to him and even though he didn't boast about it, he expected this attention. Having Helga ignore him completely and not try to start a conversation with him must've caught his attention. The next day, Jason tapped Helga on the shoulder before our science class started and he started talking to her. She didn't seem that interested in what he had to say and I watched as his facial expression went from curious to fascinated. It was like with each second of seeing her disinterest toward him, Jason wanted to get to get to know her better. I guess the change from having all attention focused on himself to having no attention at all, confused him.

Helga was really annoyed over those couple of weeks with Jason hanging around her all the time. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone over that week, even me. When she did talk it was only to Phoebe and she always seemed to be very distressed and frustrated over these talks. I had no idea why and she wouldn't tell me.

After a month of all of Helga's frustration and Jason's curiosity, we were all assigned a take home project to work on with our lab partners away from the school. I forgot what anybody's project was about but I remember the phone call that Helga had made to me the night before the project was due. We had already been working on it for about a week and I knew Helga and Jason were already done with theirs but I was still finishing up my paper on the whole project when she called.

_I picked up the phone as soon as I saw it was Helga calling. "Hello?" My voice sounded too excited and I tried to tone it down. "Uh, Helga? What's up?" That's better._

"_Arnold?" Helga's voice rang out to me. She sounded confused and tired._

"_Yeah? What's wrong, Helga? You ok?"_

"_I'm fine. I just had a question to ask you…"_

"_Okay, go ahead. Shoot."_

"_Well," she said, softly. "What would you do if you found out someone likes you and you like them too but there's someone else in the picture who doesn't even see you that way but you like them too?"_

_I didn't really think over this question or what her words might mean. I just wanted her to be happy and I thought that maybe she did like me and she would tell me she liked me if I said the right thing. "I would Just do what I think is right, Helga. If someone doesn't see how completely wonderful and beautiful you are and how great it would be if you were together then that person is not worth it. Choose the one you know who would treat you the way you deserve and Helga, you deserve anything and everything."_

"_Thanks, Arnold. But…you don't know who I'm talking about… do you?" Her voice sounded a little sad and frustrated again._

"_No, not really," I said, sheepishly. "But it seems like the best way to go. Did I help?"_

"_I guess so."_

"_Well okay. Great, then. Anything else you want to talk about?"_

"_No I think I know what needs to happen now. So I'll see you tomorrow. Night, Arnold."_

"_Night Helga-" The line cut off and I went back to work on my project._

The next day was pretty much the worse day of my life. Helga walked in with Jason's hand wrapped around hers and a grin on her face. She seemed slightly sad though but her face mostly glowed with happiness.

She left Jason's side for a minute to go to her locker and I cornered her then.

"_What happened? When did THIS," I gestured with my hand to Jason and her, "happen?"_

"_Well hello to you too, Football Head." She smirked wickedly but her eyes looked like they had hardened a bit at my tone. _

"_Helga?"_

"_Last night. Jason asked me to be his girlfriend and after a lot of thinking, I said yes. Now here we are."_

"_Is this what you were talking about Helga? About him?"_

"_Yes. Why do you seem so mad about it all?" She looked a little hopeful for a moment until I answered._

"_I j-just thought that you would have told me about this, that's all. I-I-I mean, we are best friends, right?" I started stammering. I just couldn't tell her that I was just so infuriated that he had asked her out and I had no idea how much I wanted to strangle him at the moment._

"_I'm sorry, Arnold. I just didn't really know how I was feeling myself. After we talked I figured out that you were right and that being with Jason could really be good for me? Someone who will treat me the way I deserve to be treated, remember?" She smiled at me. I tried to grin back at her but I just couldn't._

"…_Right. I DID say that, didn't I?" My voice sounded sad and unbelievably disappointed but I hoped that maybe she wouldn't notice._

"_Yeah. You did…" She looked down with a frown on her face._

"_Helga?" Her eyes shot to mine and I asked, "What about the other guy? The other one you were talking about?"_

_Helga turned away to close her locker and I thought for a second, I saw a tear run down her cheek but when she turned to me a second later, her face was as smooth and perfect as always._

"_I got tired of waiting for something to happen."Her eyes burned into mine. I stared into her eyes right back._

"_He's really missing out," I muttered._

"_Well, I hope he figures that out one day,"she smiled again. Then Helga pulled me into a tight hug and stepped away when it was over. "I'll see you later, Arnoldo, for our usual pizza night, right?"_

_I just nodded, numbly." Right.. Pizza night. My place? I'll get the movie and the pizza?"_

"_I'll bring the soda and myself." She waved, walked over to Jason, took his hand and walked out of my sight._

That just had to be the worst thing that could happen to anyone- to watch as the love of your life walked away in the arms of someone else.

Now, lying on my bed 2 years later, I can't help but think of just how stupid I was. I should have just told her how I felt. She had been unsure about the relationship and I could have just told her and it could've been worked out. I could have asked her to give me a chance but I didn't see it back then.

Now she was so happy and even though we were best friends and we hung out a lot, it seemed as though her focus was now on Jason and she didn't look like she switching gears anytime soon

Basically, I'm so screwed.

"Ugh…" I said to myself, stuffing my head under my pillow. "Why am I such an idiot?"

Then I heard a tap come from somewhere above me and I sat up in my bed and looked up to see Helga leaning on the glass window panes of my skylight with a happy grin on her face, her pink bow tied around her long blonde hair, and a bag slung on her shoulder. She was wearing a deep blue shirt that brought out her eyes and a pair of black jeans and sneakers. She looked perfect, as usual. I swallowed, trying to come to grips with myself.

"Well I would answer that question for you, Football Head but I would rather you let me in first before I say anything else," Helga laughed.

I grinned up at her and unlocked the window. She immediately came inside and flopped down on my bed.

"Hey there, Arnold. "

"Hey Helga," I breathed lightly. I loved how her name sounded when I said it.

She leaned in close so our faces were only two or three inches away from each other. I tried not to let my eyes dart to her lips. "So…watcha' doin'?"

"Just being lazy. You?"

"Oh you know," Helga giggled lightly, "just living life, being me, and doing all the same old stuff I've been doing forever. You know how it is."

"Oh yes, same for me too. So any particular reason you came to my humble abode?" I gestured to my messy room and got up to put a sock in the hamper even though the whole place was filled with junk.

"What? I can't visit without having a reason now? Geez, what's with you, Arnoldo? When did you get so weird about visitors?" She looked away from me with her arms crossed, glaring at my wall.

"I am not weird about having visitors! I just thought-"

"Okay, okay. Calm down, bestie. I was only joking." Helga grinned at me and stood up too, to give me a hug. I hugged her back, tightly and stepped away. I didn't want her to think I was starving for her physical contact or anything- even though I kind of was.

"So what's going on?" I asked her as she sat back down on my bed. I liked having her there. She looked like she belonged here in my room with me.

"Well, I was cleaning out the basement, looking for some stuff I needed for an… um, an art project," She blushed lightly and looked away for a second before meeting my eyes again. "Anyway, while I was searching I found this." She took two big, heavy looking boxes out of her bag and set them on her lap.

I looked at the boxes, not really sure that what they were supposed to hold in them that made them so important. "Um, okay…so what's in them?"

"Pictures of us. There are pictures of me and Phoebe, Gerald, Rhonda, Curly, everyone from our little group. Including you. So I brought them here to see if you'd like to look back on childhood with me and remember the good ol' days. Would you like to? Please?" Helga pulled out her pleading puppy dog eyes and I knew that I just couldn't resist her in anything especially with that look.

"Helga! You know I can't say no when you look like that!"

"So that's a yes?" She perked right back up.

"Whatever you say, Helga." I felt my eyes go half lidded and she smiled, opening the first box and sliding down to sit on my floor. I sat down next to her.

"Great because I've been dying to look at these since I found them today and I just had to look at them with you," she said, snuggling her head against my shoulder. I smiled, letting my hand pull through her hair softly. We've done this before. She didn't mind me doing that and I sure wasn't going to be against anything she was okay with.

"Aw, look at that! I was so little back then." Helga said, pointing at the picture in her hand of herself with her mother. Miriam looked tired but was smiling as she held baby Helga in her arms.

"How old were you," I asked, smiling.

"About a year, I think."

"You looked so adorable back then… What the hell happened?" My voice came out shocked. Helga slapped my arm.

"Shut up, geekbait!"

"Make me, Pinky!"

"Don't call me that, loser."

"I will if I want to, PINKY!"

"I'll shut you up…" Helga muttered, annoyed.

"Really?" I couldn't help it but my voice sounded eager as I thought of the most preferable way of shutting me up. Her lips on mine as I pulled my fingers through her silky hair…

"Yoohoo! Earth to Arnold! Are you there?" Helga's figners tapped my forehead playfully and I blinked as I came back to reality. I felt my cheeks burn red and I looked away.

"Sorry, Helga," I muttered.

"Aw, its okay, Arnold. I'm used to you spacing out on of the many reasons why I love you," she smiled at me, snuggling her head back in the crook of my arm. I flushed a deeper red wishing her words really meant that she did love me.

"Thanks. So the next picture?" I looked back at the box, genuinely interested in what else there was to see.

"Oh right," she said, as she reached for the next picture. "Hey maybe we can look at some of your pictures and put them together. Kind of putting together the pathway of our lives you know?"

"That actually sounds kind of nice. A picture is worth a thousand words so a bunch of these pictures have to mean at least a thousand memories, right?" I grinned at her and she grinned back.

"Exactly," she murmured. "Hmm… is this lady? She looks _really_ familiar. I just can't put my finger on it." Helga frowned at the picture. I looked to the picture and my breath caught in my throat. Miriam was holding me as a baby and someone else was holding Helga…

"Do you know who she is? I feel like I do know but I just can't remember…" Helga stared at the picture harder, trying to remember.

"That's… my mom, Helga," I whispered, confused as to why my mother would appear in Helga's pictures of all places.

A/N: Phew finally! Long chapter no? Well it took me awhile to write. So I just want to say that I might not write tomorrow or for another 2 days or so but I'll update soon. I'm on Christmas vacation anyway so I have some time.

Until next time! Bye! Please review. Thanks :)

~Gina


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hey everyone, I'm back and with another update. I told you I'd be back :D

And…..

Happy New Years everyone! Well a little early or late. Depends on wherever you are right now. But still I mean it with much sincerity.

Well, I'm actually writing on the car ride back home from a casino my parents brought me to. It was fun except for the fact that since I'm under the age of 21, I can't actually go into the gambling/ gaming area or whatever you call it. But on the bright side (yes, Arnold, I'm using your line. Hope you don't mind.) I got some time to think more about what to write for this chapter and it helped so that's a good thing. Anyway, here's the new chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own the rights to Hey Arnold! Figured I might as well say it again just in case because I don't want to get hauled off anywhere I don't belong. The ideas for the pictures come from me and are based on pictures of myself and my family so those are entirely mine though.

Let's get to this, shall we?

Helga POV

Arnold and I just stared at the picture, confused. "Um," not to sound rude or anything, Arnold, but what is your mom doing in my pictures? I mean, I expected you in my pictures after we were three but not here and not with you parents too."

"I have no idea, "he breathed, looking just as perplexed as I was. Arnold reached out and gently took the picture out of my hand and traced his mom's face. "I didn't even know that we knew each other at 1."

"Apparently we've been kept in the dark about this," I muttered. "But why?"

"Keep looking through the pictures. Maybe that'll give us a clue," he suggested.

I just nodded, letting my hand slip into his and hold it tightly. It was more for his comfort then my own pleasure but I did like holding his hand. Arnold squeezed my hand back tightly, letting his thumb run over my knuckled soothingly as I reached for another picture.

Yeah, maybe you haven't figured it out yet but I'm still in love with Arnold. Never stopped.

Then why, you'll probably ask, do I have a boyfriend if I'm still in love with this amazing, wonderful, selfless, godly person? Well because that same amazing person doesn't love me back, probably never will, and I got tired of actively waiting for him.

When Jason asked me to be his girlfriend, I was on the fence about it. I _was_ attracted to him. I admit that but there is so much more to life than attraction and I didn't really know how I was supposed to deal with all this when I loved Arnold. But I had gotten really tired of waiting for Arnold to make a move and I just wouldn't make a move myself because I wasn't willing to ruin our friendship that way if he didn't feel the same way. I had to find out at the time before I made a decision.

Basically, that talk on the phone convinced me that though Arnold loved me like a best friend, he wasn't _in_ love with me. Having it pretty much confirmed that Arnold wasn't in love with me hurt me so much. I cried a bit but then I realized that if it wasn't meant to be then it wasn't. I wasn't going to push it anymore and I had to move on.

So in a way, Jason was a rebound and I hate that I used him like that- as a distraction from Arnold- because he wasn't really a distraction as much as a cover up. I used him to cover my love for Arnold and all the affection I had for Arnold is used on Jason.

But even though Jason says he loves me, I've never said it back. I don't love him. I like him a lot- I've grown to honestly care and trust him- but I don't think I'll ever love him the way I love Arnold. I'm trying though. I really am.

Right now, with his hand tightened over mine and with our bodies so close to each other in his room it almost feels like he is in love with me. A lot of times I think he actually does have feelings for me but then I just shake the thought away. He would've said something if he did, wouldn't he? Then again, I didn't say anything either. So I'm being a hypocrite now. Great.

"Helga? Uh, Pinky, you still here?" A hand waved in front of my face.

I blinked and instantly muttered, "Don't call me Pinky, Arnoldo." I turned to see his eyes narrowed slyly and his mouth twisted in a tight grin like he was trying not to laugh.

"Well I had to get your attention somehow, Helga. Also, I'll call you whatever I want. You can't stop me."

"You always have had my attention, Arnold," I whispered quietly. I felt him stiffen ever so slightly. Maybe it was my imagination but I thought I saw a blush before he looked away. "Either way I can so stop you but at the moment I'm looking at pictures so let's focus."

"I'm not the one who was daydreaming about who knows what…"he muttered with sarcasm filling his voice.

"You know what? Be quiet, Football Head," I glared at him and grabbed the next picture out of the box. I looked at it and I felt my eyes widen. "Oh."

"What?" Arnold turned my hand a bit so he could see the picture and his eyes widened a bit as well and I felt a slight blush burn on my cheeks and I saw one on his too.

The picture was with the both of us on my bedroom floor by my crib and we were sitting up, facing each other. I wore a pink and white jumper with puffy sleeves and Arnold was in little black shorts and a tiny blue shirt. Our little right hands were clasped together while my left hand was holding on tightly to his blue hat and his left hand clutched my pink ribbon. We were smiling and our eyes were completely focused on only each other, green melting into blue.

"Well obviously we were… really close friends back then. Don't you think so?" I looked at him and smiled. He nodded and grinned back at me, "I think so, Pataki. We look really nice together like that."

I giggled, "Mhmm… well I _am_ in it. That's why we look so great together."

"Can't argue with that, can I, Beautiful?" Arnold chuckled and my breathing stopped for a second. _How I wish he meant it the way I want him to. _"I'm sure uh, Jason would agree…" Arnold looked away so I couldn't see his face but… was it my imagination or did his voice seem to come out much harsher when he said Jason's name?

"No, I'm guessing not, Handsome," I laughed, trying to sound casual and I looked at the next picture. I giggled and blushed a tiny bit at the next picture. "Well, well, well Arnold. Someone is awfully close isn't he?"

Arnold had already been blushing but when he saw the next picture his face turned bright red but he started laughing. "Oh God, really Helga?" The picture was of just the two of us as babies again but we were in my crib, fast asleep. I was on my side and Arnold was on his too, snuggled up close right next to me with his arm around my waist, his hand clutching on to my pink ribbon tightly.

"Helga, what? I'm not the one with my arms wrapped around some cute little girl am I?" I laughed. _This could've been something real, Arnold. This proves it. We had something even then. What happened?_

"Oh shut up, Helga," Arnold rolled his eyes but the pinkish tint to his skin hadn't gone away just yet. He took a picture out of the box. His face fell a bit and brightened at the same time when he saw the next one. I looked over to see the picture and it was our parents, standing side by side with champagne glasses in their hands.

"Wow…they look happier than I've ever seen them, "I whispered. "I can't even remember a time when Miriam was sober and Bob was actually smiling." They'd gotten better and less neglectful over the years but they still weren't exactly the most enthusiastic of parents.

"Grandpa never even told me about this. It doesn't make sense. I didn't even know they knew each other before then," Arnold shook his head, trying to figure things out.

"Keep looking," I urged Arnold and he grabbed the next picture. It was a close shot of Miriam and Stella hugging each other, the happiest faces imaginable plastered on their faces. "They look so happy,"I breathed. Arnold nodded and picked up the next picture. There was a drastic change in this picture. Miriam was by herself on the couch, looking out the window with a drink in her hand and looking absolutely depressed. I looked at the next picture and Bob was standing in our living room screaming into the phone and looking like the Bob I was used to except this version of him was crying.

I looked through the rest of the pictures quickly looking for Stella and Miles and not really looking at th pictures themselves but of the faces. Stella and Miles didn't appear again.

Arnold stood up, looking even more confused then before and I bet I looked the same. "We need to ask some questions. Now." He stood up and grabbed my hand, taking the pictures with us as we rushed down the stairs to the sitting room.

Phil was sitting on his comfy chair, reading the newspaper and eating a sandwich and Gertie was balancing on her head. Phil looked up when we entered. "Why hello kids," he smiled. "Nice to see you both come out of the room. People were starting to question what you two were doing up there." A sly look came into his eyes and we froze, blushes heating up our faces but Arnold spoke up.

"Grandpa, we were looking through some pictures of Helga's and we found these," he handed the photos to Phil. He looked through them quickly and his face turned grave. "What's going on? Why didn't you tell me Helga and I were friends as babies? Or that our parents were really close friends? Or they were friends because after these pictures, I can't find them anymore."

Phil took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry Arnold… Helga."

"For what?" Arnold looked honestly as confused as I felt.

"You see, after Stella had you, she told us her best friend had a baby too and that you and the little girl could be friends. Turned out her best friend since she was a toddler was your mom, Helga." He turned to look at me. "I guess if I told you all this, you would understand why Big Bob and Miriam are the way they are and why the parents you know don't really seem to resemble the parents in these pictures."

I sat down. "You're right. They don't look like my parents. They're… happy here. With me and Olga." Arnold sat next to me. He asked," What happened? What caused the change from being happy to being what they are now?"

"Well Miriam and Stella were such good friends," Phil began. "They were like sisters. Back then, Bob wasn't the big blowhard he is today. He and Miles ended up becoming great friends. They all were very close and it was like neither family could be parted from one another. It was close knit; they supported and helped one another. Both families cared a lot for each other. So when your parents disappeared, Arnold, it was very hard on Miriam and Bob. They had lost their nearest and dearest friends. Miriam just lost it. After she heard the news she took off for a week. I have no idea where she went but when she came back, she was drunker than I'd ever seen anyone. Apparently she went home and took a nap and after that, she never really left the couch."

I stared, horrified at the affect Arnold's parents' disappearance had had on the family. If they hadn't disappeared would things have been different? "What about Bob," Arnold asked. Phil shook his head, sadly.

"Bob pretty much blew up when he heard the news. He broke down and began shouting and screaming all over the place. His temper had grown so short; you couldn't talk to him without him blowing a fuse and just trying to start fights anywhere and at any time. Neither of them have been the same after that."

Arnold shook his head sadly. I swallowed hard. "So they are the way they are because of this?"

Phill nodded. "I guess I understand why it changed them so drastically," I murmured. "But why did Arnold and I not hang out together anymore. These pictures show we were the best of friends but then Arnold disappears too."

"Well, your parents couldn't seem to be reminded of anything or anyone that reminded them of Stella and Miles and they cut ties with us. They just couldn't handle the void of having lost their friends."

Arnold took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "Thanks for telling us, Grandpa. It seems better that we know all this now then never really understanding why things are the way they are."

It was quiet for awhile and then Phil spoke up, "So you're looking at old pictures, Shortman?" Arnold nodded, grateful for a change in conversation. "Yeah but only through Helga's because I don't really know where ours are."

"Over in the hall closet. We have all your pictures in there. But why are you looking through everything?"

"We've been reminiscing. Just remembering everything we've gone through together," I said, smiling. "So Arnoldo, grab your pictures and we'll just piece the rest of our lives together, shall we?"

"I think that'd be a great idea, Helga," Arnold grinned and got up to get his pictures.

Phil then leaned over and quietly muttered, "There isn't any ulterior motive in all this, is there? I mean, if you just wanted to get closer to young Arnold, you just have to come over. You don't really need an excuse." He chuckled.

"W-w-what?" I sputtered, gasping that he actually guessed right. It wasn't my only reason for coming but it was definitely a perk. "I don't know what you're talking about, Gramps" My voice came out haughty and I crossed my arms defiantly.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," Gertie said, smoothly, with a smile. I glanced at her, trying to seem calm, but really did these people have to know _everything_?

"Methinks you don't know what you're talking about," I said, coldly. I didn't mean to be rude but I honestly didn't know how else to respond.

Gertie just let her crazy cackle break free and she scoffed at me, "Oh please, Eleanor. Been there, done that." She then turned right side up and leaned closer to me as well. "Just tell him you love him, dear. I don't think he'll be horrified. Actually I think he-"

"I'm back!" Arnold came back in with the boxes of photos in his arms, cutting off what Gertie was going to say. _Oh come on, Football Head_, I screamed internally. _You couldn't have given it at least another minute? What was she going to say?_

But now I couldn't ask Gertie to finish her statement. She had gone over to Abner and was trying to get the poor pig to stand on his snout but it didn't look like it was going to get anywhere. I sighed and then composed myself enough to smile and say, "Great! Now would you please bring down my pictures from your room and we can look at them here? I'll get us some snacks in the meantime."

Arnold chuckled, lightly. "Anything for you, Helga." He bowed with a slight half lidded glance at me and then rushed back upstairs. I laughed to myself too and got up to get some snacks from the kitchen.

Narrator POV

Now as Helga and Arnold each went their separate ways to grab some refreshments and get the pictures, Phil was just rolling his eyes up at the ceiling and grumbling to himself and Gertie.

"Cheese and crackers! Will those two ever see it?"

"See what, General?" Gertie looked up at him, with a slight smirk on her face.

"Oh Pookie, come on! They obviously have a thing for each other. I don't understand why they don't just get together already for all our sakes." Phil scowled as if his favorite baseball team was losing the biggest game of the season.

"General, these things take time. Its pretty obvious that Kimba won't say anything because Eleanor is with that other kid and Eleanor is with that kid in the first place because she wouldn't say anything to Kimba because he probably said the wrong thing to convince her that he doesn't love her." Gertie said so matter-of-factly you would think she was actually sane. Maybe she was. It was still a mystery sometimes.

"Well then they're both at fault… but Kimba- I mean, Arnold more so because he should have seen these _ages_ ago!" Phil sputtered, standing up and flapping his arms around like a chicken with his head cut off.

"Oh yeah right, Phil. It took you forever to realize you loved me and even longer than that for us to finally get together. Its understandable what they're going through. I just know its going to happen soon- HI-YA!" Gertie had suddenly produced a watermelon from behind her back and given it a nice kick open and watermelon was flying everywhere. Phil sat back and raised his newspaper for cover.

"Uh, Grandpa," Arnold came in with Helga's pictures in hand just as Helga came in with a tray full of snacks. "What's Grandma doing?"

Phil suddenly just smiled warmly and glanced at Gertie with a loving smile. "She's being herself and that's who I fell in love with, Shortman. After all, if you can't fall for someone because of who she is then why fall for her at all? You wouldn't be worth her time."

Arnold was sitting on the floor, watching Helga as she poured a Yahoo soda into Abner's bowl and he licked her hand. She giggled and patted him playfully, not even noticing the adoring stare Arnold was bestowing on her. "Yeah you're right," Arnold murmured, quietly.

Helga then crawled over to the spot next to Arnold on the floor, grinning. "Let's get back to our lives, shall we, Football Head?"

"Whatever you say, Pinky," He winked at her and they both began looking through the pictures again, ever so slyly letting their hands touch as they did so.

These two are just going to take their sweet time with this love business, aren't they?

A/N: Okay so I know that so far this chapter wasn't exactly as action packed as you may or may not have thought it was but I don't think its absolutely horrible so that's something to be proud of haha xD

Anyway have you noticed Jason hasn't physically come into the story yet? Well he will soon. Just have to get some stuff out of the way first and then we'll get Mr. Perfect out here. Maybe that's a bad thing for you but hey, he is important to the story in some way or form.

Alright so I hope you enjoyed this installment of PWATM and stay tuned for the next Chapter. Yeah, I'm tired. Forgive the bad jokes I'm making now.

Oh and I'll edit again later if I find anything.

~Gina


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